


Till Death Do Us Part

by feygrim



Category: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Genre: August Corbin Lives AU, F/M, Fake Married AU, Undercover AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 20:12:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5062459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feygrim/pseuds/feygrim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The plan was simple. Practically fool proof. But Jenny didn't account for falling in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Till Death Do Us Part

**Author's Note:**

> AU where August Corbin is alive and Jenny sometimes steals important artifacts (that bad people might use to do bad things with and could be useful for stopping evil) for him and like in canon, Joe came back from being a Marine and they saved him from being a Wendigo, and now he’s learning the tricks of the trade from Jenny and August. 
> 
> I took many creative liberties with this. I know nothing about New York and I don't know if there historical artifact conventions are a thing. The actual Plaza Hotel is apparently super expensive but I'm no good at making up names for things so I took the name. Google is your friend

“I hate this,” Jenny hissed as they step into the hotel and toward the desk to check in. 

“Hey, at least we’re not back in Tampa,” Joe murmured quietly back. 

Jenny grimaced, remembering the terrible humidity and the damn flies. God, she feels twitchy just thinking about it. Right now, Jenny Mills wasn’t sure which she would choose: Tampa or this. But she couldn’t change her mind now, the plan was set in motion, and they had already reached the hotel desk. 

The hotel employee looked up at them with a frankly terrifyingly bright smile, her blonde hair slicked back into a tight ponytail that had to be cutting off circulation. “Hello, welcome to Plaza Hotel. How may I help you today?” 

Jenny put on her most sweetest, sincere smile and leaned in as if she were telling a secret. “We’d like to check in. We made a reservation,” putting on a fake Texan accent. 

“And what name should I be looking for?” 

Jenny glanced at Joe, who just grinned, the bastard. “Mr. and Mrs. Millbin.” They lifted their ringed fingers in unison. 

The hotel employee’s smile seemed to widen. “Oh, newlyweds, I take it!” 

Jenny’s smile went tight, and Joe noticed the change in demeanor, taking her lead and answering with shy pride, “Yup! It’s our honeymoon. The biggest historical artifact convention is being held right here in New York and we’re such big fans of historical artifacts. Ain’t that right, honey?” He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close and squeezing. 

She was startled by the warmth of Joe’s body so close to hers that she didn’t answer at first. How was he doing this again? How did he manage to push her off balance and make her feel steady at the same damn time? Was it because he was Corbin’s son or was it— _Dammit this was the plan! Get it together Mills!—_ Her inner thoughts sounded a bit like her sister, always managing to be that steady rock she could rely on, even if miles away from each other. “Uh, yeah! Not the most fun for everyone but we love it!” she chirped, following his lead, and praying she was convincing enough.

God, she hated this. This stupid plan better work. Considering she was the one who suggested it, it would look bad if it didn’t. 

“You okay, Jenny?” 

Jenny looked up from her unpacking to the man sitting on the desk chair. Just some necessary clothes and toiletries, and weapons mostly. Sure, she didn’t anticipate a fire fight, but better safe than sorry, right? “What? Yeah, I’m fine.” She said it bluntly, dismissive enough that she hoped Joe would leave it alone but the kid either didn’t get the memo or didn’t care. (Sure, he’s not a kid anymore but to her and her life experience, he’d always be a kid).

Joe scratched the back of his neck nervously. “You kinda freaked out on me in the lobby. I know we didn’t really talk about boundaries and all that for the plan, but like….if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable, you can just tell me. We should probably talk about it now, actually, since we have a bit of time.” 

She sighed. He was right. If they don’t talk about it now, it would just bring up more awkward conversation later. And they didn’t need awkward right now. They needed to be the picture perfect newlywed couple who were also historical artifact junkies. “Alright.” She sat on the bed, across from Joe. “What you did in the lobby, I was fine with that, I just wasn’t ready. Nothing below the waist or above the stomach. Holding hands, arms around the shoulder and waist, that’s fine. We’re sharing one bed, but as long as we keep to our sides, things won’t get uncomfortable.” 

Joe nodded, frowning seriously. “What about kissing in public? I’m not saying that we’ll have to do that, I’m just–” He shrugged helplessly, turning bright red down to his ears. It was kinda cute actually. 

_Focus! This was your surrogate father’s son for chrissake!_  “Cheek kisses are fine. So are the lips, only if it’s light. You shove a tongue down my throat, I shove a knife up your ass.” 

Joe smirked and saluted. “Yes, ma’am.” The awkward air in the room eased with the light banter. 

 Well, that went better than expected. Jenny stood up again, returning to her unpacking, running inventory in her head. “Get ready. We’ve got work to do.” 

Joe nodded.  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, much more quietly. 

 

* * *

 

When Joe said it was the biggest historical artifacts conference, he wasn’t kidding. There were thousands of people in the building, and they were only looking for a few. Thank god they scouted the building beforehand. A quick exit was ready whenever they needed it. 

But hopefully they wouldn’t. 

Registration was quick, and a map was provided, and soon they were on to their destination. “Didn’t think there would be so many people here,” Joe commented. 

“Biggest historical artifact convention right here in New York!” Jenny mimicked him from earlier. 

Joe snorted, rolling his eyes.

Jenny smirked. “Come on. We shouldn’t be late so stick close.” She grabbed his hand and they moved quickly among the throng of people. 

 

* * *

 

The first day was pretty uneventful. The black market dealers trusted her more on their internet chats than in person, it seemed. Luckily, the convention lasted a week. She only needed three days to complete the mission. She had already weaved the story about how her and her husband had this artifact that she inherited from her long-dead grandmother, who passed on the love of historical artifacts to her. Now all they needed to do was observe and strike at the right moment.

“Donald?”

“Oh, right….” Joe searched through his bag, muttering a low curse, and looking ever the meaning of contrite. “I’m sorry, dearest, I forgot to bring it in all the excitement. It’s back at the hotel.”  

Jenny played the fondly exasperated spouse. “Oh and we came all this way. Going back and forth would take up too much of your time. Could we talk more in a private setting tomorrow? It’s our honeymoon, you see, and me and Donald were aching to see some of the convention before heading out to see the sights.” 

If the dealers looked any bit suspicious at the play, Mr. and Mrs. Millbin looked none the wiser, smiling as if the sun shined out of their asses. They left with an address, their plan going perfectly so far. 

“You know, while we’re here, we could go see the sights,” Joe suggested, once they were out of earshot and mingled among the crowd. 

Jenny raised her eyebrows. “Really? You want to go sight-seeing? This isn’t a vacation, Joe.” 

“Come on it could be fun. Walk through Central Park, get a bite to eat….Play the newlywed angle some more just in case we’re being watched,” Joe said. “……And I may have looked up some places on our way here.” 

“Fine,” Jenny said, after some silent consideration. “But you’re paying.” 

“Yes, ma’am,” Joe said with a grin.  He leaned in for a quick kiss, squeezing her hand as they made their way out of the convention building. It was so quick Jenny barely felt it….but then why did her lips feel so warm? 

 

* * *

 

Jenny had to admit…….she was having fun. The hotel was located in the heart of New York and Joe at first had a list of where they could go, but they soon threw the list out the window, and went wherever their feet could take them.

They did some tourist-y things, visited the MOMA, checked out the Empire State Building and the Lincoln Center, but they mostly went to places that interested them. And near late afternoon, after having their fill of juicy burgers and greasy fries and cold beer at a sweet little dive bar, they strolled through Central Park in comfortable silence, not necessarily going in any specific direction. They almost never stopped holding hands throughout, and even when they did need to let go, their hands gravitated back to each other, feeling as natural and easy as breathing. 

In the quiet, Jenny’s thoughts turned on her, terrifying her by how easy and natural and _good_ this felt. Not like when she was with Hawley (not that you could say she was  _with_ him), a casual, meaningless, but mutually beneficial relationship where both parties knew the strict boundaries and rules. But here, with Joe, there were no rules, there was too much weight, and the future was uncertain. She didn’t like uncertainty.  _Lock it up, Mills!_ She slipped her hand out of Joe’s gentle grasp, clearing her throat, and breaking the…whatever this was…. “Uh, we should go back to the hotel. It’s getting late…” 

Joe blinked twice, seeming confused as if he was broken out of a hypnotic trance, and a bit hurt, like a puppy who didn’t know why he was being punished. “Oh, yeah, we probably should…..” 

The walk back to the hotel was quiet and tense (on Jenny’s part) and confused (on Joe’s part). Jenny felt the need to squeeze her hand around something and settled for making a fist and stuffing it in her pocket. 

 

* * *

 

“I hate this! This would be easy, you said! Get in, steal the Shard, get out, you said!” 

“Shut up and shoot!” Jenny growled. Joe shut up and did as he was ordered, impressing her with his Marine skills.  

So it turns out the dealers really didn’t trust them, soon finding out that Mr. and Mrs. Millbin weren’t who they said they were. And they managed to catch the thieves in the act of stealing the very artifact that they were going to sell to the highest bidder. Hence the shootout that was currently going on in this abandoned warehouse. 

The day had started out well enough. The morning after their…..Jenny was trying not think of it as a date but if it swam like a duck, quacked like a duck……well, needless to say it was more awkward than a morning after a drunk hookup with your ex. 

Joe tried his best to breach the sudden gulf that formed between them, trying to engage Jenny in conversation, and only getting clipped, blunt answers. He gave up and went to take a shower to clear his head and try to figure out what he did that made Jenny so cold all of a sudden. They were partners, and more than that, they were friends. Sure, he wanted to be more than friends, but that was irrelevant. He was glad for their friendship, and glad for her letting him be involved in his father’s seedier, hidden life. He didn’t want to lose that and even if Jenny did, they still had to talk it out. He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Jenny step into the bathroom when he finished his shower, turning the water off and shoving the curtain open. A long moment passed (but really just a minute) where he was pretty sure he stopped breathing, and then he quickly covered his bottom half with the curtain, his face slowly turning red.

“Holy shit, I am so sorry! I didn’t hear you come in, sorry! I swear I didn’t mean to, I’m so—” 

“You’re sorry, I get it,” Jenny interrupted, sounding blunt but looking more amused than angry. Her lips were curved in a small smile and her eyes scanned quickly in that cat-like way, where she was appraising you for a moment to see if you were friend or foe. It was so quick that if you didn’t know her, you wouldn’t know she had done it. She turned to the sink, effectively ignoring him as she brushed her teeth

His desire to crawl in a hole and die lessened at the relief that Jenny didn’t seem to hate him. And so he took the opportunity for what it was. “Jenny, about last night….I don’t know what I did to make you pull away from me, but I’m sorry. We had that talk about boundaries, and obviously I overstepped some. You were right, this isn’t a vacation, and I shouldn’t have treated it like one. I went into unknown territory, read everything wrong, and made you uncomfortable. I apologize for that. It was completely unprofessional of me and it won’t happen again.” The seconds that passed after his little speech felt like hours. He was starting to get cold actually, he should have put the towel closer. 

Jenny didn’t look at him as he finished, rinsing her mouth and spitting in the sink. He held his breath as she faced him, arms crossed, her face showing no emotion. She was good at being unreadable, it was kinda hot but now, it was frustrating. “This isn’t exactly the best time and place to have this conversation, is it?” she said wryly, raising an eyebrow at his state of undress. 

Joe felt he would have a heatstroke if he blushed any harder. “Shit, yeah, sorry, um…..” 

“Hope you haven’t hogged all the hot water, Corbin,” Jenny said, exiting with a grin, shutting the door behind her. At the click, her knees gave out and she leaned back, sliding down a few inches, and just breathed until the dizziness ceased. Damn, she can’t really think of him as a kid anymore can she? And it didn’t look like Joe was going to let this go. She may have got the last word here but they were going to have to talk at some point, probably when they get back to Sleepy Hollow.

_If_  they get back to Sleepy Hollow. Right now, in their present situation, it didn’t seem a likely option. 

 

* * *

 

It was a damn near close call and they were lucky to escape with their lives and minimal damage. They went dark for a week and it seemed like they were in the clear to return to Sleepy Hollow, with the Shard of Anubis in hand. A successful mission despite the violent ending. 

Being back at Sleepy Hollow meant more than a celebration though. It also meant that Joe was going to bring up what happened and it was going to be awkward and terrible and whatever was building between them would be lost with just a few words. Even the Sheriff seemed to feel the awkward tension between the two of them when they returned, not saying a word, knowing (well, _hoping_ ) they would figure it out eventually.

So Jenny decided to beat him to the punch. This time, she was going to be the one to surprise him, to catch him off guard and make him lose his center. “I don’t hate you,” she said, not looking up from the page she was scanning. They were in the archives, perusing the shelves for any more information on the Shard of Anubis.

Joe looked up from across the table, blinking in confusion. “What?” 

Jenny breathed through her nose, gathering up some courage (she hadn’t felt this scared since she was a kid) before looking him in the eye. “I don’t hate you and I’m not angry at you. You didn’t overstep….well you did but I overstepped as well. It happened so fast and so naturally, that we didn’t take a second to step back and think about it. And it felt….we didn’t want to think about it. But you were better at that than I was.....going with the flow....I couldn’t help it, I had to wonder and worry and second guess everything. I was…..afraid,” and here she laughed, embarrassed at admitting something that made her look so vulnerable. Joe didn’t say anything, seemingly captivated by her every word, and she continued, “So I stepped back. I pulled away cause..cause I mean, god, our lives are crazy, Joe. One minute, we could be alive, and the next we could be dead. That shootout proved it! Who can start a-a rela–-an anything!–with this type of life?! Who would want to?!” 

She placed her hands on the table, staring at the finger where the-fake, it was never real-ring used to be for a moment before looking back up again. She couldn’t read his face (he learned from the best). “Is it even worth it?” she whispered. 

“I like you,” Joe said quietly. He stretched his hands out across the table, grazing her fingertips. “I really really like you. And if there’s even a chance, the smallest of chances, that you would have me, I would take that chance and never look back. Sure, our lives are pretty fucked up and we could die at any moment. But, shit, if I’m going to die, I’m going to go knowing that I didn’t waste that opportunity. I’m going to die without regrets, and hopefully, with you by my side.” 

Laughter erupted from Jenny unwillingly, a bit hysterical and a bit tired. Dammit, he did it again. Managed to kick her feet right out from under her without warning. She reached forward so her hands were resting on his. It was still scary, and she would probably always have doubts, but looking across at this man that she knew would always have her back, the fear wasn’t as overwhelming. “Till death do us part then.” She smiled shyly, and Joe answered with grin,

“Mrs. Millbin.” 

“Mr. Millbin.” 

**Author's Note:**

> come talk to me on get-spoopy-with-it.tumblr.com!


End file.
